Thursday, July 7, 2011

So the dust has settled after a tough 2-1 loss to Sweden by the United States women in the 2011 World Cup, and it was not a pretty outing. The ladies went down two before getting a weak goal by Abby Wambach late in the game, but it would not be enough. You would have hoped that the women would have come out and delivered the same kind of impressive performance that they did against Columbia the other day, but Sweden definitely looked the stronger side on Wednesday. The loss doesn't knock the U.S. out of the tournament - both teams were already qualified for the quarterfinals - but it does set up a matchup against Brazil on Saturday.

That's all that the U.S. and Sweden were really playing for in their group stage finale, the opportunity to not have to face Brazil. Sweden will now take on Australia on Sunday morning, while the U.S. will take on Brazil at 10:30am CST on ESPN. Immediately after the game, I saw an article talking about how grim the USA's title chances are after this loss because we have to face Brazil. That theory doesn't really make sense to me, since we were going to have to face them in one of the next two games anyway. Yeah, the loss hurts as far as momentum, but here's hoping that the women can learn from their mistakes and avoid another game like this the rest of the way.

Did anyone make it through the entire episode of Royal Pains last night? Me neither. Nice cameo appearance from Greg Jennings though, who did much more in this episode than he did in his CSI appearance a few years back. But in case you missed Jennings putting the show on his back last night, here's the clip (courtesy of Cheesehead TV):

Can I go out on a limb and say that Greg Jennings is a much better actor than that dreadful chick? I don't know what she's bitching about, and you don't bench Greg Jennings.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The United States Men's team may be struggling as of late, but the Women's side looks just fine especially after their 2-0 win against North Korea on Tuesday. The first half was scoreless, but then Lauren.... you know what, not even I can do this. I'm glad the women won, I had the game on but barely watched, but until they at least get out of the group stage I just can't get around to writing about them. Maybe I'll try to sit down and actually watch the game on Saturday (11am against Columbia) and then we'll go from there.

Now, I know there is absolutely no chance that you've forgotten about this, but consider this your friendly reminder that there is United States World Cup soccer on today. Granted, it's women's, but hey they are people too. The United States are considered to be one of the favorites of this tournament, although from what I know it appears that the road goes through Germany. The Americans will start their quest today, at 11:15am as they take on North Korea. Enjoy!

And just like that, the Badgers are National title contenders. That seems to be the feeling out of Madison today as Russell Wilson has decided to transfer to Wisconsin where he will without question be the Badgers starting quarterback next season. Sure, technically he'll be enrolled in a grad school program (he finished at N.C. State in four years and has one year of eligibility left) but nobody really cares about academics here. Wilson is coming to Wisconsin to play football, and by all indications he's going to have quite an impact.

The story on the kid is this - he went to N.C. State for four years, and was a pretty damn good player. But he was then drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 2010 MLB draft with the 140th pick, and has been spending his time most recently with their single-A affiliate, where he had been hitting .228 with three home runs and 15 RBI this season. It was his desire to play both sports that actually lead him to leave N.C. State a bit early, but he wants back on the gridiron and Wisconsin will be happy to comply.

In what came down to a race between the Badgers and the Auburn Tigers, Wilson selected the Badgers for some reason, most likely because the quarterback depth at Camp Randall isn't very deep. After the spring game, Jon Budmayr, a redshirt sophomore, was atop the depth chart with the talent behind him weak after that (a problem that will be solved once my main man Bart Houston gets to Madison, but for now is of great concern). Thanks to the magic of Wikipedia, the print screen button, and Microsoft Paint, here's a sample of the kid we're going to see in white and red this fall, on paper:

The Badgers are already known as a running team, but now to have a quarterback that can run a little bit as well is going to do what they call "open up the offense". Schematically, he might not fit with what the Badgers are used to running offensively, but that's because they've never had a player with the talent that Wilson has. From Darrell Bevell to Jim Sorgi, John Stocco to Tyler Donovan, and most recently Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin's signal-callers are historically nothing more than the dreaded term of "game-managers". Wilson is athletic, mobile, efficient, and exciting, and he's going to change the face of the Wisconsin Badgers offense, at least for this season.

Even before this move, you would have had to say that the Badgers were at least in the mix of favorites to win the Big Ten Championship, and with this latest acquisition that is even more the case. I still think the Badgers toughest contest is going to be October 1st against Nebraska, for both the talent on the other side of the ball and for the hype that the game will incur. But the Badgers have to be thinking right now that the Big Ten is theirs to lose, and with a weaker schedule this year (thank you Ohio State violations), four games in primetime, and a quarterback who is already a potential Heisman candidate, the Badgers could be in for a very good year.

Get to know your new quarterback by checking out this video made by either a) a member of the N.C. State PR staff, b) a communications major as a homework assignment, or c) a person who is a little too obsessed with this Russell Wilson fellow: